Navigate:

November 01, 2011

Categories:

In a year when the very existence of organized labor is a more intensely partisan issue than ever, a Democratic push to use union labor for the Charlotte, N.C., Democratic National Convention has become something of an issue in the mayor's race there.

The DNC's contractors are signing agreements to use union labor "to the maximum extent feasible," something the GOP candidate for Charlotte mayor, Scott Stone, has denounced as an agreement to use out-of-state labor, as North Carolina is a pretty anti-union state with right-to-work laws on the books.

The convention says there are no quotas and that local labor will be used, and the incumbent, Mayor Anthony Foxx, has suggested Stone wants to scuttle the lucrative local project.

I asked a convention spokeswoman, Kristie Greco, about the agreements. She described them as "common practice among construction companies and building trades — protection against unions picketing their projects or work sites."

They are, she said, still being negotiated but "generally outline a commitment to maximize the use of union labor, honor the prevailing wage and outline a framework for union and nonunion labor to work side by side (in the instance that union labor is not available)."

The Democrats are hemmed in on both sides here: Their union allies aren't thrilled that the convention is in a right-to-work state in the first place, and the more local nonunion labor the DNC uses, the less happy they'll be.

Share this Article

Reader Comments ()

We’re currently testing the Facebook commenting system on our blogs. To find out more, please visit our FAQ. If you’d like to report spam or abuse, click the X in the upper right hand corner of the offending post. Remember, you must be logged into Facebook to comment.